Gateshead Council have put forward saving proposals for the library service. There are a number of options that have been put out to consultation and all but one of them proposes the closure of Whickham Library. Other than the Central Library, Whickham is the busiest branch and as an area library, it supports school services and other libraries as well. The proposals to close it do not stack up so local Lib Dems have been campaigning to save Whickham Library. Today we have been delivering petitions. I delivered 450 across three delivery patches in my ward this morning. I returned this evening to collect 115 replies (see photo above). There is clearly a great deal of interest in this issue.
2 comments:
Is there any chance of volunteers 'taking control'? people who are interested it in staying open?
Turning it into a volunteer library would be an option if the council were no longer to run it. That has been the case with 7 other branch libraries in Gateshead. However, the difference here is that Whickham is an area library which carries out support functions for schools and other libraries. This would be much harder for volunteers to handle.
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